Hió of Artaburro
| age = | race = Half-Elf | spouse = King Calhoun of Etrand (deceased) | religion = }} Hió ( ) was the wife of King Calhoun of Etrand and Queen Consort of Etrand between 789 and 809. After the death of her husband, she became the Queen Mother, continuing to live in the royal palace. Life Early Life Hió was born on , as the second daughter of Prince Saran of Artaburro. She was born with a rare condition that gave her a blue-ish white hair. Growing up a sickly child with a fair body, she had trouble tolerating overly hot temperatures and breathing, her parents constantly feared she would succumb to illness. This is why they would send her to be educated at the "air-rich mountains" - rather than freezing from the cold, Hió thrived in the cold climate. She lived and studied with the Ice Mages, who taught her the quirks of Water Magic. That's where she have grown into a healthier girl from the sickly infant she was. When she was 14 years on, she returned to the royal palace to receive at least "basic" education in "what a princess should know" - according to her parents. Hió was extremely uncomfortable in those conditions and was constantly wishing to return to the mountains. She was considered to have behaved improperly - her parents called her a "stalker" due to her silent way of walking. Unlike her much more sociable sister, she observed people from a distance. In many ways, she was considered the black sheep of the royal family. When she was 17 years old, she got betrothed to her own cousin, Calhoun of Etrand, the son of King Cairbre I of Etrand, who was her father's sister's husband. The marriage ceremony between Calhoun and Hió was held on , when Calhoun was 20 years old, and Hió was 23. Between her betrothal and her marriage, she would spent her time up in her mountains, meditating - she was unwilling to meet her future husband until the year of the marriage, even though her parents encouraged her to get to know her future husband, so that they would grow close. Eventually, she would relocate to the residence of her future husband three months before the marriage, but would remain "bitter" towards Calhoun, according to royal chroniclers. Marriage to King Calhoun of Etrand In , Calhoun and Hió got formally married. Hió, having an unusual childhood and education, was unused to living in a royal palace. She was not at all used to being married, to having being affectionate and bearing children as a duty. Just like Muyian to Cairbré, Hió was cold to her husband at first. Unlike Muyian, who suddenly fell in love with her husband after reflecting upon her situation, Hió only gradually grew attached to the man who put the ring on her finger. And even then, the couple was never as romantic or "lovey-dovey" as Muyian and Cairbré. Another early problem within the marriage between Hió and Calhoun was Hió's low fertility - for almost ten years, she failed to conceive. This was attributed to her questionable health - even though she was no longer the frail child she used to be, local clerics believed that her lack of fertility was due to her early sicknesses. Other clerics believed that Hió's failure to conceive was due to the borderline-incestuous connection between Hió and Calhoun.. Before their first child was born, Calhoun was already giving up on hope that his wife will ever conceive. Hió's first-born son, Bryant the Fair was born on . Her second son, Orlonius was born on . She also had three daughters, Salvia (born on ), Kethia (born on ) and Ottilia (born on ). Out of the three daughers, only Ottilia would survive infancy. Queen Consort of Etrand On , King Cairbré died, leaving Calhoun to rule Etrand. Just like Muyian before her, the Half-Elven beauty Hió quickly became the female face of the regime. Artists were attracted by the frail-looking, pale white-haired "ice queen", who indirectly popularized the colour blue for females. The ice queen on the other hand was quickly fed up with being "harassed" by painters and went into isolation. She would rarely make public appearances, and she would always do so next to her husband. This led to chroniclers describing her as a shy queen. Assassination attempts In 804, there was a conspiracy by some of the more hot-headed and xenophobic nobles of Etrand, who aspired to curb Elven influence in Etrand, as they saw the present and previous queens being half-Elven as a sign of a bad future to come. During the incident, most of Hió's retinue was massacred by the conspirators, but the Queen herself managed to escape, and even personally killed some of the would-be assassins in self-defense, further enraging the conspirators who were now accusing the queen of murder. Fearing that harsh punishment would spark a civil war, her husband Calhoun decided to punish only the ringleaders and make gestures towards the rest of the nobility, making Hió - and her relatives in Artaburro - disappointed. Queen Mother of Etrand Only after the death of Prince Bryant in she would begin to be mentioned more often again - records talk about her frantically contacting the best healers of the realm to save her husband, who would eventually die in . Even after her husband's death, Hió remained an important member of the royal household. Category:Half-Elves